Fort Carson’s ‘Pilgrim’ Cross to Stay

The Army has no plans to remove or modify the official emblem of the Fort Carson hospital, which prominently features a Christian cross used by religious warriors and pilgrims during the Crusades.

A church-state watchdog group brought the symbol to the Army's attention in April.

The spike-bottomed cross is based on those carried by pilgrims in the Middle Ages, according to the Army's Institute of Heraldry, which designed the emblem for the Evans Army Community Hospital at Fort Carson, Colo., in 1969.

Critics say the image shows a cross carried by Christian pilgrims, including Crusaders, during the turbulent medieval era when European armies swept through the Middle East conquering lands in the name of religion, says the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which argues the cross has no place on a military facility.

The Army doesn't agree.

"No one is considering changing any emblem based on a lawsuit or threat of a lawsuit," Army Lt Col. Christopher Garver told Military.com June 21.

The MRFF says the emblem was brought to its attention by more than 40 Fort Carson Soldiers and a civilian employee at the base, which is home to the 4th Infantry Division. Foundation head Mikey Weinstein said nearly 75 percent of those who contacted his organization with concerns about the emblem are Christian, either Protestant or Roman Catholic.

He said the use of a symbol that even the Army acknowledges is religious violates the separation clause of the Constitution.

Weinstein told Military.com in a June 18 interview that he recently met with Maj. Gen. David Perkins, commander of Fort Carson, to ask that the emblem be changed or modified. But Perkins said any such change was not his call to make, according to Weinstein, who added he plans to file a lawsuit if the Army doesn't make changes to the emblem.

In addition to the maroon-colored cross, the hospital emblem includes three mountain peaks that simultaneously represent the Rocky Mountains and Indian teepees, an allusion to the history of the post, which was named for Indian scout Christopher "Kit" Carson, according to the Institute of Heraldry. The cross represents "mercy, service and physical care."

"The spike was stuck into the ground, fixing the cross in an upright position to mark the location selected for encampment," the institute's description notes.

An official with the institute said any decision to change the emblem would have to come from Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey.

Weinstein, an attorney, has been engaged in numerous battles with the Pentagon since about 2005, after learning that some officials and staff at his alma mater, the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, were publicly promoting Christianity. He founded the MRFF in 2006.

He said one way the Army could remedy the emblem problem would be to turn the spiked cross into the universally recognized Red Cross, which does not carry the same religious connotations as a cross that alludes to Christian pilgrimages and even, for some, the Crusader wars of the Middle East.

He said accepting the use of a religious symbol on a military facility opens the door to its being used elsewhere in the military.

"If it's okay to put up a Crusader cross on an Army hospital, then it's okay to put one on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, on a tank, on a uniform or a helmet," says Weinstein.